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Guts & Glory: Here come the 2015 WISL Playoffs!

All that matters now is that you got in. It’s a clean slate second season where guts in the pinch can lead to glory on the pitch. The Western Indoor Soccer League playoffs are here! Our clubs will fight it out for the right to hoist the WISL trophy, a unique creation of designer Quinn Honan.

The semifinal matchups provide some very interesting story lines. In one battle it’s the unbeaten Tacoma Stars against their first year would-be rivals and neighbors Oly Town FC. In the other war it’s Bellingham United against a club they just can’t seem to shake, the Wenatchee Fire.

Wenatchee Fire is at Bellingham United Saturday Feb 7 at 7:20 PM at the Bellingham Sportsplex. Oly Town is at the Tacoma Stars the same night at 7:30 PM at the Tacoma Soccer Center.

“I think it’s been a tremendous season for all of us, we are excited to see the clubs improve and build as we grow,” says WISL Commissioner John Crouch. “The level of professionalism and play was a strong improvement to what we’ve had in the past I think. We enjoyed some great coverage of the league as well and that always really helps to drive engagement of fans and players.”

Crouch sees the WISL’s future as very promising. “We’re looking to the future of this league and to see it grow, so we hope everyone is excited to finish strong, but to stay working to build for the future in the off-season.”

Guts & Glory: It’s the Fire and Hammers in the WISL semifinals this Saturday in Bellingham.

Before then we’ve got Guts & Glory on the calendar.

Wenatchee Fire played to the only tie in WISL history against Bellingham’s Hammers this season, 6-6. The Fire’s Adrian Espinoza seems to own the Bellingham Sportsplex. United will need to solve his prowess in order to advance to the Final. It was a wild 12-7 win for BUFC when Wenatchee came calling on January 10th. The Hammers will look to continue their offensive flair with the help of Andrew Weishaar, Kellan Brown and others.

The Tacoma Stars ran away with the WISL regular season, including 8-5 and 15-2 wins over Oly Town FC. It’s a David versus Goliath matchup, and the Stars should remember how that one turned out. Tacoma has been spread thin over two leagues. This time they have a week off and the WISL comes first before a home MASL match against Turlock on Sunday. The Artesians have plenty of firepower in Willie Spurr and Greg Wolfe. They also have seasoned talent in goal with (player-coach) Nate Salveson, who could also feature as a field player. The Stars have Derek Johnson on the attack and Aaron Anderson in goal along with a cast of high-level players.

Guts & Glory: It’s the Stars and Artesians in the other WISL semi in Tacoma on Saturday night.

The two teams who advance to the Final will be trying to win hearts on Valentine’s Day. The Guts & Glory Final is scheduled for February 14th.

“Nobody needs a designated day to love their lover,” says Crouch of the scheduling, “do it every day, pick special days but don’t buy into the Hallmark hype, go to a soccer match this year and save your date for an uncrowded night out, you will be glad you did!”